Hands On With Canon's Tiny EOS Rebel SL1 Digital SLR

Canon's newest SLR is impressively small. The EOS Rebel SL1 measures just 4.6 by 3.6 by 2.7 inches (HWD), and weighs a mere 14.4 ounces. It's not as small as a compact interchangeable lens camera, but the fact that it squeezes an 18-megapixel APS-C image sensor and a traditional optical viewfinder into that amount of space is impressive on its own. Don’t confuse small with shoddy, though. It feels solid in the hand, even though I felt like I was handling a Lilliputian camera when examining it. It should pair quite well with the EF 40mm f/2.8 STM pancake lens.

The SL1 is powered by a Digic 5 processor that allows it to shoot at 4 frames per second. Its ISO sensitivity ranges from 100 to 12800, so you can shoot in all kinds of light. The rear LCD is 3 inches in size and has a stunning 1,040k-dot resolution. It's touch-enabled so you can adjust settings directly, but there's also a traditional mode dial, a control wheel, and dedicated buttons for ISO control, Auto Exposure Lock and Exposure Compensation.

The autofocus system uses 9 points with a single cross-type sensor in the center. Expect improved focus speed when shooting video or stills in Live View mode, as the phase detect area on the sensor now covers 80 percent of its surface area—a vast improvement when compared to earlier models. It is set to sell for $649.99 as a body only, or for $799.99 when bundled with the new EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM lens. This lens, which features a stepping focus motor for smoother focus in Live View, will also be available separately for $249.99. They all ship at the end of April.

Also joining the Rebel family is the replacement for the EOS Rebel T4i. Canon has dubbed it the EOS Rebel T5i, but don't expect a lot of changes. The exterior texture is slightly different, and the Mode Dial now freely rotates 360°. If you utilize Creative Filters you can now preview them in real time when shooting in Live View, and there's a digital zoom mode available when shooting video. But in terms of image quality, performance, and features, it's the same 18-megapixel camera that we reviewed last year. It is priced at $749.99 as a body only, $899.99 with the new 18-55mm STM zoom, and at $1,099.99 with the EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM zoom.

Rounding out the trio of announcements is the latest addition to Canon's point-and-shoot family, the PowerShot SX280 HS. It replaces the well-regarded SX260 HS in the PowerShot family, and promises improved performance rather than extra pixels. The camera still uses a 12-megapixel CMOS image sensor, 3-inch 460k-dot LCD, and a 20x (25-500mm f/3.5-5.6 equivalent) lens, but is now powered by a Digic 6 image processor. It can fire off a 7-shot burst of photos in half a second, and can also shoot for longer durations at 3.8 frames per second. Video is also improved—the SX260 HS was limited to 1080p24, but the new camera can record 1080p footage at up to 60 frames per second in MP4 format.

The ISO sensitivity is expanded to cover 80 to 6400, and Canon promises improved image quality across the board. Focus is 50 percent faster than the SX260 HS—we weren't able to compare them side-by-side, but it certainly seemed snappy when shooting some photos during our briefing. Wi-Fi is built-in, as is GPS, so you can immediately transfer photos to your smartphone or tablet when out and about; and every photo you shoot will be geotagged with the location from which it was captured. The PowerShot SX280 HS is priced at $329.99 and will go on sale next month. You'll be able to buy it in black or red.

Senior digital camera analyst for the PCMag consumer electronics reviews team, Jim Fisher is a graduate of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where he concentrated on documentary video production. Jim's interest in photography really took off when he borrowed his father's Hasselblad 500C and light meter in 2007. He honed his writing skills at retailer B&H Photo, where he wrote thousands upon thousands of product descriptions, blog posts, and reviews. Since then he's shot with hundreds of camera models, ranging from pocket point-and-shoots to medium format...
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